The spring weather is changeable. It's raining in the dawn of a February weekend. But it does not scare us enough to cancel a plan to go hiking on the Sinliao Waterfall Trail (新寮瀑布步道).

The solitary line of a narrow, overgrown trail heads off into the distance. Jagged, pointed peaks rise up in front, sheer cliffs of bare rock plunge terrifyingly from the trail into the valley far, far below and fantastic, slowly changing panoramas open up over the unlimited expanses of mountainous country laid out below.

I have heard there three things a proper Taiwanese of today should do -- cycle around Taiwan, swim across Sun Moon Lake, and climb Yushan.

Thanks to the Taiwanese government, which has put a great deal of effort and money into promoting Taiwan's natural splendor over the past few years, it's no longer a great secret that the island is a veritable paradise for outdoor lovers in general, and for walkers in particular.

Taitung's attractions should be tasted at leisure, and from pristine mountains and streams, aboriginal gatherings, sacred spots and hotsprings, there are many things to guarantee return trips to this paradisiacal place.

Anyone who's driven along the main road between Tainan County (台南縣) and Chiayi City (嘉義市) will have seen it. If you've taken the train -- the slower conventional train that is, not the high-speed railway -- between Chiayi and points south, you'll likely have noticed it. It looks somewhat like a water tower, but with windows.

Glimpses of its emerald surface are one of the highlights of the trip along the old Taipei to Ilan highway (now blissfully quiet, since most traffic between the two counties takes the new highway through the 13 kilometer-long Shueshan Tunnel), yet it's only standing on the bank of this huge, serpentine expanse of water that its great scenic beauty can finally be enjoyed to the full.

About half an hour after leaving Pingsi High School, the trail enters a clearing, and several abandoned buildings and a fenced-off mine shaft entrance lie beside the path.

A chilly breeze from off the coast swept through the streets of the small town, but the sky was still blue with only a few wispy clouds in it. Located just an hour from Taichung and about three hours from Taipei, the quaint town of Lugang (鹿港) makes a good destination for a winter day trip, both because of its historical sites and because of its cheap, delectable cuisine.

Nantou may be the only completely landlocked county in Taiwan but the beauty of its natural features and landscapes definitely does not lag behind the rest of the island.